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Bill to ease access to landlocked public lands draws support and caution over overlap with PAULA
Summary
HB 763 would let Fish, Wildlife and Parks streamline block‑management access agreements and raise a per‑landowner cap to $25,000 for access‑only deals; proponents said it reduces red tape and opens public lands, while opponents warned it duplicates and conflicts with the existing PAULA program and urged amendments.
Representative Josh Seckinger told the Senate Fish and Game Committee that House Bill 763 is a targeted change to Montana's block management program intended to reduce administrative burdens on landowners, increase public access to landlocked state lands and provide voluntary, access‑only agreements. "Montana's public lands are among our greatest treasures," Seckinger said, and the bill aims to open certain inaccessible state lands via negotiated agreements that would not require landowners to allow hunting on their property but would allow passage to adjacent public lands.
Seckinger said roughly 3,000,000 acres of public land are inaccessible and described HB 763 as a Montana solution to the problem. The bill would allow Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) to streamline agreements and set a higher maximum payment for these access‑only…
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